End of March status update (Patreon)

'ey all. Figured it's time to do an update on art status and personal stuff. The usual kind of update.

Let's get the art stuff out of the way first, then you can keep on reading about stuff that's been going on in my life, should you be interested.

ART STATUS

The month has been fairly slow, partly because of the personal stuff I'll mention further below, but I'm still up to meeting the monthly art quota, meaning at least one more hi-res full color work, but I'm also going to try and get one more thing done. Not sure what that'll be, but possibly coloring something from the legacy archive or other unfinished stuff. Possibly an exclusive, but we'll see.

So basically, expect 1-2 colored works by the end of the month.

PERSONAL HAPPENINGS

So last time I mentioned that I had a second PET scan of my heart and chest area coming, to check up on my heart for sarcoidosis or such. Well, it was done, and the doctor called me about the results, which weren't terrible, but not good either. Basically, there was a very subtle increase of inflammation in the heart muscle, but still very subtle. Barely a difference to the first PET scan results. But since meds haven't improved things, still enough to warrant a heart biopsy, which is upcoming in near future. I'll be in the hospital for one night when that happens. Other than that, a pretty simple procedure, and hopefully helps reach a more conclusive diagnosis.

Here's the fun part. On the same day I got the PET scan results, I also got called about some other results. I'm also suffering from sleep apnea! In case you don't know, sleep apnea means that I'm not getting oxygen normally while sleeping. Commonly this is caused by a person's airways getting obstructed due to anatomical oddities or other factors, resulting in frequent unusually long pauses in breathing, meaning less oxygen, less effective sleep, and thus tiredness. In my case it's probably a mix of genetics, weight and swelling caused by current medication. It's also often a cause for snoring. Until now I've never known or been told that I actually snore. A lot! Sleep apnea can also increase the risk of heart-related issues and such, so in my case an important thing to look into.

So what can be done about it? For this type and level of sleep apnea, the first thing to try is a portable CPAP machine. It's basically pressurized air blown through a tube to a small mask you put over your nose (and in some cases mouth too, but I've been using the nose mask for now), which helps the airways stay open. You basically have it on for the whole night (or at least 4 hours in order it to be effective). It's not particularly comfortable, takes a bit of getting used to the constant airflow through the nose, it can cause dryness in the nose and mouth, skin irritation where the mask is, and so on. Plus for a person that rolls around a lot while sleeping, the tube isn't quite as flexible as you'd want. And sadly, while I've been getting used to it, so far it hasn't made a huge difference, though I feel like I've had couple of mornings where I've felt slightly more rested than usual, so I'm willing to give it a longer go. The general tiredness I've had for a while now could just be the medication. At the very least I've been instructed to keep reducing cortisone intake on a monthly basis, so hopefully the combination of less meds and the CPAP will increase my energy levels in the long run. Also, thanks to the healthcare services around here, I get to loan the machine for free from the hospital, as long as I keep using it and it's doing its thing (usage and stats are being tracked), so it costs me very little to use it. Might as well give it a serious go for now.

So there. Heart sarcoidosis still unconfirmed, and I sleep with a tube connected to my nose. Fun times...

But other than that, I don't feel particularly worse than before or anything, so expect art coming out at roughly the current pace for now. For now, I'm just waiting for the heart biopsy. Apparently there's a bit of a queue. With the pandemic and all going on, I guess.